Dan Kagwe’s appointment came at a time when the Auditor General had exposed the rot at the state corporation but the appointing authority turned a blind eye to it. According to a report by the Auditor General covering the period 2019/2020, Ksh. 585, 152,651 in statutory deductions, Value Added Tax, Withholding, Customs and Excise taxes and others were not remitted to Kenya Revenue Authority contrary to the rules made under Section 130 of the Income Tax Act
The controversial appointment of Dan Kagwe as the Postmaster General and CEO of Kenya Postal Corporation has come back to haunt two former Cabinet Secretaries in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s admiration. Joe Mucheru who was the Cabinet Secretary in charge of ICT through the influence of former Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe controversially renewed Dan’s contract for three years with effect from March 2020. Dan was first appointed by Mucheri in 2017.
It has however been discovered that the decision to renew his contract caused an uproar among Posta workers, who claimed Kagwe has mismanaged the firm leading to massive losses. Further, sources divulged that Mucheru had requested the board to conduct interviews for the position of CEO and the board forwarded three names of then-current general managers at the state entity to the CS including Peter Kirui (Finance), Milcah Mugwe (Mails) and Julius Opimi (Company Secretary) for the appointment.
Mucheru in his wisdom trashed the board’s recommendation and instead re-appointed Dan despite protests from Posta workers who termed the appointment as dictatorial and against the law. Considering that Mutahi Kagwe and Joe Mucheru were powerful Cabinet Secretaries in Uhuru’s administration, the board had no option but to accept Dan as the CEO. His contract is expected to end in March next year.
Dan’s appointment came at a time when the Auditor General had exposed the rot at the state corporation but the appointing authority turned a blind eye to it. According to a report by the Auditor General covering the period 2019/2020, Ksh. 585, 152,651 being statutory deductions, Value Added Tax withheld, customs and excise taxes and other taxes were not remitted to Kenya Revenue Authority contrary to the rules made under Section 130 of the Income Tax Act.
Further pensions and gratuities deductions amounting to Sh1,323,528,860 had not been remitted to the Staff Pension Scheme, Sh108,575,458 due to Cooperatives and Sh305,665,755 being staff bank loans deductions had not been remitted. This is contrary to Section 19 (4) of the Employment Act, 2007.
It is also being whispered that the Kenya Kwanza administration is keen on revoking the appointment of the board’s Chairman Peter Kanaya who was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 13th July 2022 less than a month before the last general elections.
